Pa. Turnpike Commission releases commercial toll violators list

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is calling out the most egregious commercial toll violators, each of which owes more than $20,000 in unpaid tolls and viola...

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Author: Valerie Hawkins (FOX43)

Published: 11:51 AM EDT October 26, 2016

Updated: 11:52 AM EDT October 26, 2016

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is calling out the most egregious commercial toll violators, each of which owes more than $20,000 in unpaid tolls and violations.

All told, the trucking firms have collectively ignored more than 19,000 violations notices.

“The top 24 violators together owe the PA Turnpike more than $1.5 million in unpaid tolls and fees,” said PA Turnpike Chairman Sean Logan. “Shockingly, a single New Jersey trucking firm owes the PA Turnpike almost $700,000 in unpaid tolls and violations.”

Of the top commercial violators, ten companies are from New Jersey and eight are from Pennsylvania. There are two trucking firms from Virginia and two from Arizona, with one each from Ohio and Illinois. (click to view PDF)

“We are doing all we can to collect every penny, but it is simply not enough,” Logan explained. “Without support from state lawmakers for tougher consequences, a growing number of violators from every state will continue to cheat both the Turnpike Commission and the commonwealth as a whole.”

Logan said the Commission supports a measure which would provide the agency broader authority to make sure repeat violators pay. The legislation would give PennDOT the ability to suspend the vehicle registrations of motorists who have failed to pay after repeated requests.

“We aggressively pursue all violators and we have a strong and successful track record. But last year, we lost $5.4 million in uncollected revenues,” Logan said. “Each year, the number of violators and the revenue loss continues to climb as traffic and use of E-ZPass grows.”

The legislation would also enable the PTC to enter into reciprocity agreements with other tolling agencies to pursue out-of-state violators.

“The fact that so many of the repeat violators are from out of state makes it plain that we need additional tools to collect,” Logan added. “It is just fundamentally unfair to expect Pennsylvanians to pay the freight for a company based in Arizona or anywhere else.”

Along with the list of top commercial toll violators, the Commission also provided a state-by-state breakdown of toll violators.

“Not surprisingly, most of the states in the top 10 are states with which PA shares a border,” Logan explained. “But many will be surprised that we have mailed toll violations to every U.S. state and territory, including Hawaii and Alaska.”